sexta-feira, 19 de fevereiro de 2016

BLINDNESS AND SIGHT

I, the Lord, have called you
in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon
those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 42:6-7 (read 42.1-7)

Human eyes have
been blind to God's will for humanity. The Jews expected the coming of a
warrior messiah to put the nation of Israel in the position of supremacy among
nations and inspire the world to look to Jerusalem to receive the light of
salvation. They are still waiting!

For nearly 2,000
years Christians have awaited the return of a conquering Christ to avenge His
enemies and establish His Kingdom of peace on Earth. The wicked are to be
condemned to eternal torment in hell and the good rewarded endless paradise.
They, too, are still waiting!

Both Jews and
Christians rely on divine violence to enforce justice and peace. The Jews
rejected Jesus because he was not the mighty conquering liberator messiah.
Christians place their ultimate hope in a coming Christ who will be powerful
and vindictive instead of vulnerable and peaceful. Through the centuries
Christianity has taken up the sword more than the cross. It has had it’s eyes
closed to peace as being a way of life.

A careful
reading of Isaiah 42.1-7 shows the nature of the person who announces the will
of God for all people of the world: "He will not shout or cry out, or
raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a
smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” It is light that will open blind eyes
and release the prisoners, from their dark prisons.

The prophet
Isaiah indicates that God is pleased with those who do not make a big show or
use brute power, but with those who respect the broken and the weak. This
sensitivity will open the eyes of the blind and free the oppressed from their
prisons.

The "open
the eyes" of the blind comes before "set free the prisoners."
The worst blindness is "closed eyes." Our tendency is for us to close
our eyes to the truths that trouble us. By doing so we are living a lie. Living
with closed eyes is living in a "dark prison". Closed eyes create
prisons. A closed mind enslaves.

Often
evangelization consists of exchanging one prison for another. When we adopt the
posture of possessing the whole truth we find ourselves obligated to defend and
maintain that truth. In this way our "truth" becomes another dark
prison. The new converts are led to close their eyes to everything that is not
within the truth that is taught by their new “faith”. Discourse and
indoctrination are dangerous, because they can be used to build other prisons.
Testimony, not instruction, can lead the blind to open their eyes and get out
of one prison without falling into another one.

It is with
"open eyes" that deliverance comes. A person who really sees will not
submit to oppression. He or she is free to live the truth even when imprisoned.
Jesus is the supreme example of this principle. We cannot imagine Jesus being
submissive to any human authority. He was free to live the love of the Father,
against all religious and social constraints. By preaching submission and
conformity, the churches are building "dark prisons".

Justice can be
established only by living it, never by imposing it. Neither Christianity nor
the Jewish State of Israel has been able to put this text into practice. Thus
the world (gentiles) does not look to either the State of Israel or
Christianity for light. The countries in which Christianity is a majority are
directly involved in and promoting the violence. In promoting violence even
Christians become antichrists.